Anti-Airbnb Coalition Creates Map to Find Nearby Sex Offenders in NYC

ShareBetter, the anti-Airbnb campaign in New York City, launched a tool Monday that allows short-term renters to search neighborhoods in the city for sex offenders and building code violations.

Organizers of the coalition want the "ShareSafer" map to bring attention to the public safety issues of short-term rentals. ShareBetter, which launched its campaign in September, consists of hundreds of local politicians and affordable housing advocates rallying against short-term rentals. Their primary target has been Airbnb, which has accused the coalition of working on behalf of the hotel industry.

The map is updated daily with open data from the city's API and the New York State Sex Offender Registry.

Airbnb does not list exact addresses of rentals until a guest actually books accommodations, but the tool is designed to let prospective guests identify issues in the general neighborhood before booking. Looking at the map, it appears the general idea is to scare tourists from staying in those neighborhoods.

However, the midtown area — home to Times Square and a large share of the hotels in the city — has plenty of bubbles of its own. The map makes one wonder where it is safe to stay in the city.

A screenshot of midtown Manhattan through the ShareSafer tool from ShareBetter, the New York City campaign against short-term rentals.

New York City is no stranger to crime or deteriorating buildings, although the local tourism organization would probably choose not to focus on those aspects. Crime in the city has been on a downward trend for seeral decades, according to city data.

ShareBetter has only just begun its efforts to combat illegal rentals in New York. On its own, the ShareSafer tool is questionable, but as part of the larger effort it makes sense as a way to highlight potential threats

UPDATE Oct. 6, 3:10 p.m. ET The ShareSafer tool was offline temporarily Monday because of a surge of users. A spokesman for ShareBetter said about 200,000 users tried to access the tool.

"The overwhelming response far surpassed what we anticipated," a spokesman for ShareBetter told Mashable. "This clearly shows that people are interested in using the web tool to learn more about the safety risks of Airbnb."

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